To organize and lay out your artwork, you use tools for
selecting, positioning, and stacking objects precisely. You can
measure and align objects; group objects so that they are treated
as a single unit; and selectively isolate, lock, or hide objects.

Selection options and preferences

Options for selecting objects

Before you can modify an object, you
need to distinguish it from the objects around it. You do that by selecting the
object. Once you’ve selected an object, or a part of an object,
you can edit it.

Illustrator provides the following selection methods and tools:

Isolation mode

Lets
you quickly isolate a layer, sublayer, path, or group of objects,
from all other art in your document. When in isolation mode, all
nonisolated objects in the document appear dimmed and are not selectable
or editable.

Layers panel

Lets
you quickly and precisely select individual or multiple objects.
You can select a single object (even if it’s in a group), all objects
within a layer, and entire groups.

Selection tool

Lets
you select objects and groups by clicking or dragging over them.
You can also select groups within groups and objects within groups.

Direct Selection tool

Lets
you select individual anchor points or path segments by clicking
on them, or select an entire path or group by selecting any other
spot on the item. You can also select one or more objects in a group
of objects.

note: When in outline mode, the Direct Selection
tool may select imported graphics that are near the tool’s pointer.
To avoid selecting unwanted graphics, lock or hide the graphics
before making the selection.

Group Selection tool

Lets
you select an object within a group, a single group within multiple
groups, or a set of groups within the artwork. Each additional click
adds all objects from the next group in the hierarchy.

Lets
you select objects, anchor points, or path segments by dragging
around all or part of the object.

Magic Wand tool

Lets
you select objects of the same color, stroke weight, stroke color,
opacity, or blending mode by clicking the object.

Live Paint Selection tool

Lets
you select faces (areas enclosed by paths) and edges (portions of
paths between intersections) of Live Paint groups.

Selection commands

(located in the Select menu) Let you quickly select or deselect
all objects, and select objects based on their position relative
to other objects. You can select all objects of a specific type
or that share specific attributes, and save or load selections.
You can also select all objects in the active artboard.

Note:

To temporarily activate the last-used selection
tool (Selection tool, Direct-Selection tool, or Group Selection
tool) when using another type of tool, hold down Ctrl (Windows)
or Command (Mac OS).

Specify selection preferences

Selecting paths and points in
complex images can be challenging. Using the Selection and Anchor
Display preferences, you can specify the tolerance for pixel selection
and choose other options that can make selection easier for a particular document.

Specifies the pixel range for selecting anchor points. Higher
values increase the width of the area around an anchor point that
you can click to select it.

Object Selection By Path Only

Specifies whether you can select a filled object by clicking
anywhere in the object or whether you have to click a path.

Snap To Point

Snaps objects to anchor points and guides. Specify the distance
between the object and anchor point or guide when the snap occurs.

Isolate artwork for editing

Isolation
mode isolates objects so that you can easily select and edit particular objects
or parts of objects. You can isolate any of the following: layers,
sublayers, groups, symbols, clipping masks, compound paths, gradient
meshes, and paths.

In Isolation mode, you can delete, replace, and add new art relative
to the isolated art. As soon as you exit isolation mode, replaced
or new art is added at the same location as the original isolated
art. Isolation mode automatically locks all other objects so that
only the objects in isolation mode are affected by the edits you make—
you don’t need to worry about what layer an object is on, nor do
you need to manually lock or hide the objects you don’t want affected
by your edits.

When isolation mode is active, the isolated object appears in full color, while the rest of the artwork appears dimmed. The isolated object’s name and location (sometimes referred to as bread crumbs) appears in the isolation mode border, and the Layers panel displays only the artwork in the isolated sublayer or group. When you exit isolation mode, the other layers and groups reappear in the Layers panel.

Select behind objects

In Illustrator, you can select objects that lie underneath other objects using Ctrl+click (Windows) or Command+click (Mac OS). The pointer changes to Select Behind on the first Ctrl+click (Windows) or Command+click (Mac OS). On subsequent usage of Ctrl+click (Windows) or Command+click (Mac OS), the selection iterates through the objects directly underneath the pointer position.

Select the next object in the stacking
order

You
can select an object above or below a selected object in the stacking
order. These commands do not work when in isolation mode.

To select the nearest object
above or below the selected object, choose Select >
Next Object Above or Select > Next Object Below.

Select objects using the Layers
panel

In
the Layers panel, locate the object you want to select. You may
have to click a toggle arrow to expand a layer or group, or scroll
up or down in the panel to locate the object.

Do any of the following:

To select individual objects, click in the object’s selection column (between the target button and the scroll bar). Shift-click to add or to remove objects from the selection.

To select all artwork in a layer or group, click in the layer’s or group’s selection column.

To select all artwork in a layer based on the currently selected artwork, choose Select > Object > All On Same Layers.

Selection color boxes appear next to each selected item in the panel.

Select an object with the Selection,
Lasso, or Magic Wand tool

Select objects with the Selection
tool

Select the Selection tool .

Do either of the following:

Click an object.

Drag a marquee around part or all of one or more objects.

To add or remove objects from the selection, hold down Shift
and click or drag around the objects you want to add or remove.

Tip: When the Selection tool is over an unselected object
or group, it changes to . When
it is over a selected object or group, the tool changes
to . When
it is over an anchor point on an unselected object, a hollow
square appears next to the arrow .

Dragging over objects to select them

Select objects with the Lasso tool

Select the Lasso tool .

Drag around or across the objects.

Select objects with the Magic Wand
tool

Use the Magic Wand tool to select all
objects in a document with the same or similar fill attributes (such
as color and pattern).

You can customize the Magic Wand tool to select objects based
on stroke weight, stroke color, opacity, or blending mode. You can
also change the tolerances used by the Magic Wand tool to identify
similar objects.

Select objects based on fill color
with the Magic Wand tool

Select the Magic Wand tool .

Do one of the following:

To create a new selection,
click the object containing the attributes you want to select. All
objects with the same attributes that were clicked are selected.

To add to the current selection, press Shift and click another
object containing the attributes you want to add. All objects with
the same attributes that were clicked are also selected.

To subtract from the current selection, press Alt (Windows)
or Option (Mac OS) and click the object containing the
attributes you want to subtract. All objects with the same attributes
are removed from the selection.

Customize the Magic Wand tool

Do one of the following to open the Magic Wand
panel:

Double-click the Magic Wand tool in the Tools
panel.

Choose Window > Magic Wand.

To select objects according to their fill color, select Fill
Color, and then enter a Tolerance value between 0 and 255 pixels
for RGB or 0 and 100 pixels for CMYK.

Low tolerance values
select objects that are very similar to the object you click; higher
tolerance values select objects with a broader range of the selected property.

Choose Show Stroke Options from the Magic Wand panel menu,
and do any of the following:

To select objects according
to their stroke color, select Stroke Color, and then enter a Tolerance
value between 0 and 255 pixels for RGB or 0 and 100 pixels for CMYK.

To select objects according to their stroke weight, select
Stroke Weight, and then enter a Tolerance value between 0 and 1000
points.

Choose Show Transparency Options from the Magic Wand panel
menu and do any of the following:

To select objects
according to their transparency or blending mode, select Opacity,
and then enter a Tolerance value between 0 and 100%.

To select objects according to their blending mode, select
Blending Mode.

Select filled objects

The
Object Selection By Path Only preference determines whether you
can select a filled object by clicking anywhere within the object’s
area with the Selection or Direct Selection tools, or whether you
must click a path segment or anchor point with these tools. By default,
this preference is off. In some cases, you may want to turn the
preference on—for example, when you work with overlapping filled objects
and you want to easily select underlying objects.

Note:

The Object Selection By Path Only preference is not applicable
when selecting unfilled objects or when viewing artwork as outlines.
In these cases, you can never select an object by clicking inside
the object’s path. (See View
artwork as outlines.)

With Object Selection By Path Only deselected, clicking inside
the object and dragging selects and moves an object.

With Object Selection By Path Only selected, dragging with
the Direct Selection tool selects points and segments within a marquee.

Select groups and objects in a
group

Once
objects are grouped, selecting any part of the group with the Selection
tool or the Lasso tool selects the entire group. If you are unsure
whether an object is a part of a group, select it with the Selection
tool.

The Direct-Selection tool and Lasso tool let you select a single
path or object that is part of one group or several groups. If you
have groups of objects within other groups, you can select the next
group in the grouping hierarchy by using the Group-Selection tool.
Each successive click adds another subset of grouped objects to
the selection.

Select one or more groups with
the Selection tool

Select
the Selection tool .

Do one of the following to any object that’s within the group:

Click the object.

Drag around part or all of the object.

To add or remove a group to the selection, hold down Shift
while clicking the group to add or remove.

Select objects and groups within
groups with the Selection tool

Select the Selection tool .

Double-click a group. The group appears in isolation mode.

Do any of the following:

Double-click to select
further down into the group structure.

Tip: Double-clicking
is a handy way to select objects (as opposed to faces and edges)
within a Live Paint group.

Click to select an object within the selected group.

Draw to add an object to the selected group.

Double-click outside the group to deselect the group.

Select a single object within a
group

Do one of the following:

Select the Group Selection tool , and
click the object.

Select the Lasso tool , and
drag around or across the object’s path.

Select the Direct Selection tool , and
click within the object, or drag a marquee around part or all of
the object’s path.

To add or remove an object or group to or from the selection
(with any selection tool), hold down Shift and select the object
to add or remove.

Select objects and groups with
the Group Selection tool

Select the Group
Selection tool , and
click an object that’s within the group you want to select. The
object is selected.

To select the object’s parent group, click the same object
again.

Click the same object again to select additional groups that
are grouped with the selected group until you have selected everything
you want to include in your selection.

The first click with the Group Selection tool selects an object
in a group (left); the second click selects the object’s group (right).

The third click adds the next group to the selection (left);
the fourth click adds the third group (right).

Select faces and edges in a Live
Paint group

You select faces and edges of a Live Paint tool using the
Live Paint Selection tool. If you want to select the entire Live
Paint group, simply click it with the Selection tool.

Select
the Live Paint Selection tool .

Move the tool over the Live Paint
group until the face or edge you want to select is highlighted.
(When the Live Paint Selection tool is over an edge, the tool changes
to .)

Do any of the following:

Click to select the
highlighted face or edge.

Drag a marquee around multiple faces or edges. Any face or
edge that is fully or partially enclosed by the marquee is included
in the selection.

Double-click a face or edge to select all connected faces/edges
of the same color (flood select).

Triple-click a face or edge to select all faces/edges of
the same color (select same).

Tip: If you have
difficulty selecting a small face or edge, magnify the view or set the
Live Paint Selection tool options to select only fills or strokes.

To add or remove faces and edges from the selection, hold
down Shift and click the faces/edges you want to add or remove.

Note:

To switch to the Eyedropper tool and sample fills
and strokes, Alt‑click (Windows) or Option‑click (Mac OS)
the fill and stroke you want.

Live Paint Selection tool options

You access the Live Paint selection tool options by double-clicking
the tool in the Tools panel.

Select Fills

Selects the faces (the area within edges) of Live Paint groups.

Select Strokes

Selects the edges of Live Paint groups.

Highlight

Outlines the face or edge the cursor is currently over.

Color

Sets the color for the highlight. You can choose a color
from the menu or click the paint swatch to specify a custom color.

Width

Specifies how thick to make the selection highlight.

Select objects by characteristic

You can select objects based on various
groupings, including by formatting attribute, by layer, or by kind,
such as brush strokes or clipping masks.

Using
any selection tool, you can also deselect all objects by clicking
or dragging at least 2 pixels away from any object.

To select all objects with the same attributes, select one
with the attribute you want, choose Select > Same, and
then choose an attribute from the list: Blending Mode, Fill &
Stroke, Fill Color, Opacity, Stroke Color, Stroke Weight, Style,
Symbol Instance, or Link Block Series.

Link Block Series automatically
selects threaded text boxes. You can select one of the text boxes
and then use this command to select all the other text boxes linked
to that one. For more information see Threading
text between objects.

Note:

You can also
use the Magic Wand tool to select all objects with the same color, stroke
weight, stroke color, opacity, or blending mode.

To
select all objects of a certain kind, deselect all artwork, choose
Select > Object, and then choose an object type (Brush
Strokes, Clipping Masks, Stray Points, or Text Objects).